Does your child have trouble coping with stress? Does he or she exhibit serious concern about academic, athletic, or social competence? Do you see an exceptional need for reassurance, frequent aches and pains, acute sensitivity to the comments of others, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, or sleep disturbance? Does your child quickly give up attempts at self-control or fail to recognize his or her success at such attempts? These are some of the signs of excessive anxiety, a debilitating condition that afflicts millions of children, causing deep frustration and often leading to lifelong unhealthy patterns of behavior.

Although medications can be helpful, studies have shown that nearly 90 percent of all anxious children can significantly benefit by learning coping skills. Your Anxious Child empowers you to teach your child these essential skills in engaging, creative ways. Through dozens of activities you can start using right now, your child will learn how to alleviate stress, build courage and trust, and become an innovative problem solver.

Your Anxious Child is based on the acclaimed "COPE" program, which has been used successfully with children throughout the United States for the past 15 years. The program offers physical, mental, and spiritual strategies for Calming the nervous system; activities designed to help your child Originate a creative plan to relieve anxiety; approaches to help your child Persist in the face of obstacles and failures; and effective ways for you and your child to Evaluate and refine your plan.

Each step includes field-tested activities that are easy and fun to do, suit a range of ages, and can be individually tailored. Activities include games, puzzles, checklists, biofeedback techniques, breathing and sensory awareness exercises, yoga, prayer, journaling, playacting, storytelling, and lots more. With this supportive guide, you can offer your child tremendous tools and strategies to alleviate anxiety.

An Empowering Guide for Relieving Your Child's Anxiety Katie freezes when she's asked to perform. José is a clinger. Damian is terrified of animals. Felicia always worries that she's going to make a mistake. It's hard being the parent of an anxious child, watching your son's frustration grow, or seeing how your daughter tries to cope with her fears but gives up so quickly. Filled with solid information, a proven four-step program, dozens of engaging activities, and insightful personal vignettes, Your Anxious Child gives you easy, fun, and highly effective tools to help your child become a creative problem solver. Parents and teachers alike will find excellent strategies in this essential guide.

Author Bio

Dacey, John S. : Boston College

John S. Dacey, Ph.D., is professor at Boston College in the Department of Counseling, Developmental Psychology, and Research Methods. An expert in child development, he is also the author of many books and articles on parenting, creativity, adolescent psychology, and human development.

Fiore, Lisa B. : Boston College / Curry College

Lisa B. Fiore, Ph.D., teaches courses in developmental and educational psychology at Boston College and Curry College. Her background as an early childhood educator has fostered her research in Head Start centers and her work in counseling parents of young children.

Acknowledgments 1. What Anxiety Is and How It Can Be Alleviated 2. Eight Types of Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents 3. COPE Step One: Calming the Nervous System 4. COPE Step Two: Originating an Imaginative Plan 5. COPE Step Three: Persisting in the Face of Obstacles and Failure 6. COPE Step Four: Evaluating and Adjusting the Plan 7. How Your Parenting Style Can Help Ease Your Child's Anxiety AppAndix A: Summary of Activities and Their Goals AppAndix B: Solutions to Activity Problems Annotated Bibliography About the Authors Index

Your Anxious Child : How Parents and Teachers Can Relieve Anxiety in Children - 00 edition

Does your child have trouble coping with stress? Does he or she exhibit serious concern about academic, athletic, or social competence? Do you see an exceptional need for reassurance, frequent aches and pains, acute sensitivity to the comments of others, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, or sleep disturbance? Does your child quickly give up attempts at self-control or fail to recognize his or her success at such attempts? These are some of the signs of excessive anxiety, a debilitating condition that afflicts millions of children, causing deep frustration and often leading to lifelong unhealthy patterns of behavior.

Although medications can be helpful, studies have shown that nearly 90 percent of all anxious children can significantly benefit by learning coping skills. Your Anxious Child empowers you to teach your child these essential skills in engaging, creative ways. Through dozens of activities you can start using right now, your child will learn how to alleviate stress, build courage and trust, and become an innovative problem solver.

Your Anxious Child is based on the acclaimed "COPE" program, which has been used successfully with children throughout the United States for the past 15 years. The program offers physical, mental, and spiritual strategies for Calming the nervous system; activities designed to help your child Originate a creative plan to relieve anxiety; approaches to help your child Persist in the face of obstacles and failures; and effective ways for you and your child to Evaluate and refine your plan.

Each step includes field-tested activities that are easy and fun to do, suit a range of ages, and can be individually tailored. Activities include games, puzzles, checklists, biofeedback techniques, breathing and sensory awareness exercises, yoga, prayer, journaling, playacting, storytelling, and lots more. With this supportive guide, you can offer your child tremendous tools and strategies to alleviate anxiety.

An Empowering Guide for Relieving Your Child's Anxiety Katie freezes when she's asked to perform. José is a clinger. Damian is terrified of animals. Felicia always worries that she's going to make a mistake. It's hard being the parent of an anxious child, watching your son's frustration grow, or seeing how your daughter tries to cope with her fears but gives up so quickly. Filled with solid information, a proven four-step program, dozens of engaging activities, and insightful personal vignettes, Your Anxious Child gives you easy, fun, and highly effective tools to help your child become a creative problem solver. Parents and teachers alike will find excellent strategies in this essential guide.

Author Bio

Dacey, John S. : Boston College

John S. Dacey, Ph.D., is professor at Boston College in the Department of Counseling, Developmental Psychology, and Research Methods. An expert in child development, he is also the author of many books and articles on parenting, creativity, adolescent psychology, and human development.

Fiore, Lisa B. : Boston College / Curry College

Lisa B. Fiore, Ph.D., teaches courses in developmental and educational psychology at Boston College and Curry College. Her background as an early childhood educator has fostered her research in Head Start centers and her work in counseling parents of young children.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 1. What Anxiety Is and How It Can Be Alleviated 2. Eight Types of Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents 3. COPE Step One: Calming the Nervous System 4. COPE Step Two: Originating an Imaginative Plan 5. COPE Step Three: Persisting in the Face of Obstacles and Failure 6. COPE Step Four: Evaluating and Adjusting the Plan 7. How Your Parenting Style Can Help Ease Your Child's Anxiety AppAndix A: Summary of Activities and Their Goals AppAndix B: Solutions to Activity Problems Annotated Bibliography About the Authors Index